The Class EF-4/EP-4 "Little Joes"

The Milwaukee Road’s "Little Joes," were the last electric locomotives purchased by the railroad. How they ended up on the Milwaukee Road is a rather twist of fate. However, the electric locomotives ran near flawlessly during their service life that spanned three decades and they became the most revered motors ever operated on the Milwaukee Road. The Little Joes were used in regular service from the early 1950s until the Milwaukee Road’s western electrified operations over its famous Pacific Extension were shutdown in 1974. Early on the 2-D+D-2 electrics pulled both passenger and freight trains although this ended in early 1961 when the railroad stopped running its transcontinental Olympian Hiawatha to Puget Sound. Thankfully, one Little Joe was saved from the scrapper’s torch and now sits on display in Deer Lodge, Montana with other preserved equipment.

The unique "Little Joe" electric locomotives were built by General Electric
in 1946 to fill an order placed by the Soviet Railways to operate on a
3,300 volt, DC system. However, upon the order being completed
relations had broken down between the United States and Russia (thus
plunging us into the Cold War) and the locomotives had no place to go,
with all 20 sitting at GE’s Erie, Pennsylvania plant awaiting purchase.
The "Little Joes" derived their name from the Soviet Union’s ruler,
Joseph Stalin originally being called Little Joe Stalin's locomotives and later shortened to just Little Joes. From a technical standpoint these motors carried a 2-D+D-2 wheel arrangement, were equipped with eight GE
750 motors, and operated on a 3,000 volt DC system (perfect for the
Milwaukee Road) with a continuous rating of 5,500 horsepower! While
geared rather low with a maximum speed of just 68 mph they produced
75,700 pounds of tractive effort and would prove to be perfect in stiff,
mountainous territory.

Needing to sell the electric locomotives, GE offered to test one on the Milwaukee Road in the late 1940s, which interestingly had to be regauged to 4 feet 8 ½ inches from the five foot specifications for Soviet Railways. Of the twenty built, the Milwaukee Road would go on to purchase 12 in 1950 with three picked up by the commuter line Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad and the other five sold to Brazilian railroad, Paulista Railway. After arrival on the CMStP&P the railroad quickly set to putting them into service. Initially two were singled out for passenger service and designated class EP-4 (they carried the Milwaukee Road’s plush Olympian Hiawatha passenger train, which operated between Seattle and Chicago) with the rest used in freight operations and designated class EF-4s (after the Milwaukee Road ended passenger service to Seattle in 1961 the two motors designated for such were reclassified to EF-4s as well).

The "Little Joes" were purchased to replace the Milwaukee Road’s aging fleet of electrics which consisted of elderly GE
boxcabs; classes EP-1, EF-1, and EP-2 (Bi-Polars). The unreliable
Bi-Polars were finally scrapped in 1962 and the original EP-1s and EF-1s
were retired following the
purchase of the EF-4s in 1950 (however, boxcab classes EF-2, EF-3, and
EF-5 remained in service along with the "Little Joes" until the end). The EF-4s proved to be a reliable and effective motor across the Milwaukee
Road’s Rocky Mountain Division where grades through the Bitterroots
sometimes peaked over 2%. If you were lucky enough to see these
magnificent locomotives in action they could regularly be seen assisting
expedited freights with names like XL Special and Thunderhawk
over St. Paul Pass and other stiff grades in Montana and the
northeastern tip of Idaho (their range stretched as far west as Avery,
Idaho the western terminus of the Milwaukee Road's Rocky Mountain Division).

Until 1961 the "Little Joes" also assisted in carrying the regal Olympian Hiawatha passenger train from Harlowton, Montana
to Avery, Idaho. The two "Little Joes" designated for this service
were painted in a splendid matching livery of two-tone orange and after
the Milwaukee Road ended the Olympian Hi the units were returned to the more traditional solid orange with black trim. For the "Little Joes", not only were they the last electrics purchased by the Milwaukee Road but the locomotives also made history by heading the final runs of electrified operations in June of 1974. One of these last runs occurred on June 15th when electrics E73 and E20 lead train #264 into Deer Lodge, Montana.
After the June shutdown the "Little Joes" remained in storage on the
system until all were eventually scrapped, save for unit E70 which was
donated to the City of Deer Lodge and today is displayed on the
courthouse lawn painted in the Milwaukee's Olympian Hiawatha livery.

It is interesting to note that just after the Milwaukee Road shutdown its electrification the oil embargo hit causing oil prices to shoot through the roof and resulted in the railroad not only spending millions on fuel but also new locomotives to replace the electrics. In any event, today electrics no longer conquer St. Paul Pass on
the Rocky Mountain Division and all is quiet over the famous Pacific
Extension except for the sound of Mother Nature and the occasional hiker
along a number of rail/trails. However, the sprinting Indian logo
lives on with the Milwaukee Road Historical Association and Amtrak continues to operate a passenger train named after the famous Indian.

The Milwaukee Road's Class EP-4/EF-4 "Little Joes"

Road Numbers

Date Built

Builder

Horsepower

E20, E21, E70–E79

1946

General Electric

5,530 HP 1 Hour/5,110 HP Continuous

For more reading about the Milwaukee's Little Joes the book, The Milwaukee Electrics: An Inside Look At Locomotives And Railroading, by author Noel Holley is regarded as one of the most complete books on the subject. It is an older title that has went through at least one revision by provides a detailed look through more than 300 pages at the railroad's daily electrified operations, its differing electric locomotive models, and how the system was regularly employed that allowed it to become the most efficient transcontinental main line to the Pacific Northwest until the electrics were shuttered in 1974.

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